Ultralight Carbon Foams

Insulates at 1000 °C

Sandwiching with carbon aerogel composite panels simultaneously boosts mechanical strength and impact resistance while suppressing radiative heat transfer.

Jiaxin, Yao · Li, Liang · Hao, Tian · Hongxiang, Cai · Hao, Huang · Su, Zhe · Luo, Yi · Niu, Bo · Long, Donghui

Carbon 2026

Specifications

Density (pure carbon foam)

{'zh': '0.041', 'en': '0.041'} g/cm³

Compressive strength (pure carbon foam)

{'zh': '0.48', 'en': '0.48'} MPa

Density (sandwich structure)

{'zh': '0.12-0.21', 'en': '0.12-0.21'} g/cm³

Flexural strength (sandwich structure)

{'zh': '6.55-12.68', 'en': '6.55-12.68'} MPa

Backside temperature (sandwich structure)

{'zh': '254.6-287.8', 'en': '254.6-287.8'} °C

Advantages

Backside temperature cut by over half

Carbon aerogel composite panels suppress radiative heat transfer, reducing backside temperature to 254.6-287.8 °C after 800 s at 1000 °C versus 568.3 °C for pure carbon foam.

26 times stronger than pure foam

Sandwich structure reaches flexural strength up to 12.68 MPa, much higher than the 0.48 MPa compressive strength of pure foam, while density remains 0.12-0.21 g/cm³, overcoming brittleness.

Load-bearing at low density

Sandwich structures with density 0.12-0.21 g/cm³ withstand flexural stress of 6.55-12.68 MPa, achieving lightweight and high strength.

Applications

• High-temperature Thermal Protection：Replace pure carbon foam with sandwich structure to withstand 1000 °C while greatly reducing backside temperature.
• Lightweight Thermal Insulation：Achieve efficient insulation at density 0.12-0.21 g/cm³, reducing backside temperature to 254.6-287.8 °C.
• High-temperature Structural Sandwich：Use carbon aerogel composite panels as faces to enable load-bearing and insulation in one sandwich.
• Composite Sandwich Panels：Panels suppress radiative heat transfer and provide flexural strength up to 12.68 MPa for high-temperature structural parts.